Team Possible II: It's in the Blood
by King in Yellow
Summary: When an ancient evil leaves Kim, Shego, and Ron all missing in action necessity will force a new team to attempt their rescue. Best Enemies series.
1. Chapter 1 One Down

Disney owns all characters on the Kim Possible series.

NoDrogs created Kasy Ann and Sheki Go Possible in the story A Small Possibility. They've been altered in my stories.

Story takes place a month after A Simple Jewish Wedding.

**Chapter 1 One Down**

A campus security officer and policeman interrupted a class on evidence when they came through the door. Other students glanced at Kim as the redhead began to gather her books. It wasn't the first time she'd been called out of class for a mission. The pair seemed oddly quiet as she left the classroom with them.

"You know a Sharon O'Ceallaigh in the law school?"

On a better day Kim would have told him it was pronounced like O'Kelly. Instead her stomach knotted, what had Shego done? "Yes."

"You're listed as emergency contact for her."

The pain in Kim's stomach was suddenly worse. "Has something happened to her?"

The two officers exchanged a glance, not sure what to say or how to say it. "You'd better come with us," the campus security guard said. "We need to show you a tape. The security office is in--"

"I know where the security office is," Kim snapped. "I'm sorry. I just want to know what happened."

"So do we," the policeman said. Kim led the way across the green, walking so fast the two officers trotted to keep up.

"Where is everyone?" Kim asked as they entered the security office in the basement of the administration building.

"Probably over at the law school, trying to find a witness or any kind of evidence."

"Please, tell me what this is about."

"Sit down, Miss Possible," the policeman said. "Sharon O'Ceallaigh vanished from a class this after--"

"How can you vanish from a class?"

"We don't know. Videotape of the entrance revealed… Hell, we're not sure what it shows. Can you start the tape Clif? Begin it about one-seventeen this afternoon."

The somewhat grainy image of the law school entryway began to unroll on the screen, "The weird thing is that no one can remember seeing this guy in the building… Slow it down, now!"

Kim watched as a man who looked vaguely out of time and place crossed in front of the camera. She suddenly felt ill and fought the urge to throw up her lunch. She had seen a similar man, if it could be called a man, once in Tibet. Shego had warned her there was still at least one more in the world, and Kim was seeing evidence of the fact. "Forward the tape to two minutes after two," the policeman instructed the campus security man. Kim knew what she was going to see even before the image came on the screen. "And that's the damndest thing," the cop said, "he carried her out of a building where a hundred people should have seen something, and no one saw a blessed thing. Here the image-- See! Right there! Two other students are coming in just as he carries her out, we can identify them both. We interviewed them, and they both swear they didn't see a thing - even though he had to have walked right past them."

"No, it can be very effective at screening itself from sight."

"It? You recognize him?"

"It's not a him… That was Shego-- Sharon's opinion. Can I have the tape? I have a couple people I need to show it to."

"Sorry, we can make a copy for you. You'll have it tomorrow."

"BY TOMORROW SHE COULD BE DEAD!" Kim screamed. "Look, I'm sorry. I've got to see if I can do something."

She bolted from the room, the campus security officer yelling at her as she left, "What can you tell us?" The two stared at each other as they heard her running down the hall for an exit. They weren't sure if the better course was to follow her and demand more information or let Kim tackle the problem herself.

Ron answered the phone on the second ring, "Hello?"

"Ron, Shego's been grabbed by a Jack. Can you--"

"What!"

"Shego's gone, taken. She said Drakken knows something about them. Get a car, pick me up in front of the administration building as fast as you can."

"The twins are--"

"Ask Bonnie, Monique, anyone. Just get here as fast as you can. I need to get out to Lipsky and Load. I'm going to call out while you're on your way and tell them we're coming."

The eight minutes until the Volvo pulled up in front to the building seemed like hours to the pacing Kim. "Move over, let me drive," she ordered Ron.

"No way, KP. You'll get stopped for speeding. You got shotgun."

Cursing Ron under her breath, even though she knew he was right, Kim ran around and jumped in the passenger side. Only after the car was in motion did she acknowledge the presence of Joss in the back seat. "What are you doing… That sounds wrong. I'm apologizing a lot this afternoon. I'm upset."

"I understan'. I stopped by your place before goin' home and when the phone call came I jumped in the car with Ron."

"Are the twins okay?"

"I think they're fine. Bonnie said she'd watch 'em. She said to call her as soon as you know anything."

Kim gritted her teeth as Ron refused to go more than seven miles above the speed limit on the drive out. Halfway to the lab Kim complained, "I don't know why Shego didn't tell us more about those things."

"Gee, I don't know KP. Maybe A, she didn't want to talk about them. Or B, we didn't want to know more about them. But I'm going to go with C, both of the above."

At Lipsky and Load he pulled into an open spot between Kim's old Bug and Zita's heap. Kim jumped out of the car even before it finished moving. Wade, Jim, and Tim were standing behind the glass door of the entryway. Wade pushed the door open and Kim barked, "Where's Drakken?"

"Small lab two," Wade said as Kim hurried past.

Ron apologized and they all followed her to find the blue man. The argument must have started as soon as Kim and Drakken saw each other. "What do you mean, she's missing?" the blue man was shouting.

"I mean she disappeared during class today. The video showed her being carried out of the law school and no one saw a thing," Kim broke and had to sit down for a minute, crying in rage and frustration. "I saw the video. I think it was a Jack." She had already warned Ron, but Drakken went pale and Wade felt uneasy without even knowing exactly what was going on. Joss and the tweebs simply looked puzzled. Kim took a deep breath and tried to regain some composure. "She told us the two of you have fought them before. There used to be four of them--"

"There are still two," Drakken said, nodding.

"Just one now," Ron interrupted. "We saw one die in Tibet."

"You couldn't see it die," Drakken sneered. "You have to be alive in order to die, and those things weren't. And they're terribly good at faking their own 'demise'."

"I'm pretty sure that one is gone," Kim interrupted. "But if the last one has Shego you have to tell us whatever you can, and fast."

The others sat on chairs or lab tables as the blue man paced nervously, trying to organize his thoughts into a coherent story. Finally he sighed and began a somewhat disjointed rambling. "We never learned exactly what they were or where or when they came from… It doesn't matter. They were vampires--" He saw Wade and the tweebs give him an incredulous look. "Oh, not the Béla Lugosi sort of vampires. I sometimes think these things started those stories just to throw people off. They don't sleep in coffins and they can be out during the day. They drink blood, but… Wade, I need unsolved murders where the victims' throats were slashed, correlate it with lunar phases. Any missing person reports where the person disappeared during the same phase of the moon."

"Why, do you--"

"Just do it, Wade! Please," Kim interrupted. The young man went to a computer terminal to the side and began looking for the requested information.

"To remain at top strength each needed to dine on blood at least once during the lunar cycle, they each had a phase of the moon that was ideal. I suspect the Ripper murders in England were probably--"

"Do we need this history lesson?" Kim pleaded. "I want to know how we find and rescue Shego."

"How can you rescue her if you don't know what you're up against?" Drakken sneered. "Your only chance is if you understand what has her."

"And if you keep wandering around instead of focusing on how to destroy it she's going to be dead. How do we find her? Is there any way to trace that thing?"

"No, there's not," he glared at her. "Wait… Kim, come with me."

"Ron, come with us."

"Just you," Drakken hissed at Kim.

"No, I need Ron. He has to know what I know."

Drakken hesitated only a second, he wanted Shego rescued, "Very well," he growled. He led them out of small lab two to another room with a few computer terminals. The floor plan at the old Lair seemed to change every time Kim visited the place as work progressed at Lipsky and Load. "You will swear to never tell Wade what you are about to see."

"What's the--" Ron started to ask, and Kim elbowed him.

"Just swear." She turned to Drakken, "I promise never to say anything about this to Wade."

Even as Ron swore his oath Drakken sat down at a terminal and called up a satellite image of the United States. He began adjusting settings and within seconds half a dozen points of light were on the screen. "Those are her brothers," Drakken said, ignoring the points of light in Go City. He enlarged the other image; 'accidentally' placing his hand over the light in Middleton in the process. Kim's eyes narrowed. She guessed the Middleton light was Drakken himself.

"When was she taken?"

"About two. Where is she?"

"If you'll have some patience," he grumbled. "I'm trying to get the coordinates. It's a little more than forty miles from here, a little valley…" He brought the satellite image into sharper focus. "Odd, it looks like houses, but there's no mention of a town and I'm not getting much of an infra-red signature."

Ron stared at the map, "I think I remember that place from state history in grade school. Do you remember it KP? A mining town with a big smelting plant: lead, silver, and copper. So much lead from the tailings leached into the ground water that the people all left like ten years before Love Canal. I always wanted to see what was there, but the state closed the road up into the place."

"Lead is neurotoxin, why did you want to go there?"

"I wasn't planning on drinking the water there. I just wanted to see a ghost town."

Drakken had focused the satellite image even tighter while Kim and Ron talked. "It appears that Shego is inside a church building. East side of the building, probably the sanctuary." He tapped on the screen, "Damn image seems awfully fuzzy."

"Looks like you're going to get your wish," Kim told Ron. "Do I need to ask if you're coming with me?"

"I got your back, KP."

"Don't be fools," Drakken snapped. "You need a plan."

"My plan is to save Shego!" Kim pointed to the screen. "Can I assume this light means that she's still alive?"

"Yes."

"Well, I'm going to get there before the light goes out."

"You can't fight that thing, it isn't human."

Ron answered, "I'm guessing it's never faced any Mystical Monkey Power."

Drakken paused, "Look, I'm sorry. I just want Shego to be safe. I don't want more victims."

Kim hesitated, then placed a hand on his shoulder. "That's all any of us want. But you said he's going to kill her."

"He hasn't killed her yet. That means he's waiting for the proper phase of the moon. Shego's power drew them like a moth to a flame. They wanted her blood… Let's see what Wade has."

They returned to Lab Two and found that Wade had two unsolved murders where the victims had their throats slashed, both when the moon was between new moon and first quarter. He had three missing persons who had all disappeared during similar time periods. When the locations were plotted on a map they made a line heading towards Middleton.

"When is the new moon?"

"Tomorrow night," Wade answered.

"Take a little more time to prepare," Drakken pleaded. "Attack it tomorrow morning."

"I'm not leaving her overnight with that thing. Wait, a question. No one could see it going in and out of the law school, but it was on the camera."

"They can effect human perception," Drakken explained to everyone. "They can't really change into bats or wolves like the stories say, but they can make you think they've changed into a bat or wolf and that will convince the average person. But they weren't much good with technology. I think they all learned how to drive, but things like digital cameras or computers would probably be a mystery to them."

"So it would probably not understand that you had a tracking chip on Shego," Kim asked the question in a way to mislead Wade on the source of the knowledge of Shego's location. She hated lying, but she had given her word.

Drakken looked relieved. Ron spoke, "So, he assumes that nobody knows where he is?"

"That seems likely," the blue man replied.

As they left the room Drakken snapped his fingers, "Let me see if I can find something." The two waited, not knowing what to expect. He returned a few minutes later with a pair of what looked like glasses. "Special polarization," he explained. "If I understand his power you should be able to see him no matter what he tries to do."

Kim hesitated for a minute, not wanting to put Ron in danger, "What do you think, Ron? Should we wait until morning - try and come up with a better plan?"

He looked at her, "I say we go for it. There's probably an hour of daylight. We can be there in the hovercraft in under half an hour. I'm getting pretty good control of the ol' MMP."

Kim gave him a hug and kiss, "Thanks, Ron. We're leaving now," she told the others.

"Take these mikes," Wade requested. He was finding the same poor images that had plagued Drakken when he went to the coordinates they gave him. "Something seems to be interfering with visual transmissions. I'm hoping it won't effect audio as much."

"Probably all the lead and stuff around there," Ron suggested.

Wade rolled his eyes. "Satellite cameras aren't like x-ray vision in comic books."

"Yeah, but that was an old mining town. Couldn't enough different kinds of metal maybe--"

"Come on, Ron," Kim said taking him by the arm. "We're going now."

"We'll listen to you right here," Jim called.

Drakken watched sadly as they left. "I'll be doing work in cybernetics if you need me," he told Wade. "I need to prepare for Shego's rescue."

"What about Kim and Ron?"

"Oh, they can be rescued too, if they're still alive."


	2. Chapter 2 MIA

Disney owns all characters on the Kim Possible series.

**Chapter 2 M.I.A.**

Kim wished she knew how to pilot the hovercraft. She knew Ron would get them there are quickly as possible, but she desperately wanted something to do to keep the image of Shego's throat being cut out of her mind.

"Dross!"

"What?" Kim asked.

"Dross," Ron replied. "I just remembered the name of the town.

As Ron set the hovercraft down Kim thought that Dross had seen better days. Windows were broken on most of the wood frame houses which were still standing, and roofs sagged on others which looked like they would soon be collapsing. A number of stone and brick buildings appeared to be in better shape. They had set down in the front of what had been the playground for the school. The church stood about two blocks away on a small rise. In the still of the late afternoon they worried that the noise would be too obvious if they tried to land any closer.

"Uh, KP, I should have probably told you this a little earlier…"

"What is it, Ron?"

"Well, I got pretty good at calling up the Mystical Monkey Power that last summer when I was in Japan. I'm not always as good at controlling it as I'd like to be."

"So, you're going to attack me?"

"Probably not. Just warning you to stay out of my way. I could be dangerous."

"That's exactly how I want you in there." She gave him a hug. "This is going to be another of those Wannaweep moments when you're taking point and I'll just try to cover your back. I'll find Shego and get her out. Don't be a hero. We don't need to defeat him today, I just want all three of us to be safe."

"I don't think he has a chance. I could take apart a tank with the MMP. I want to finish this now."

Even as they moved toward the old church building Kim began to sense changes in Ron. He seemed to grow larger somehow, and more feral. His words, if he spoke at all, came out as guttural growls. She ceased trying to speak as she fell in behind him as he moved silently up the hill.

One of the large double doors had collapsed on the front of the church, the other door hung at a crazy angle from its single remaining hinge. If Kim had anything else she wanted to say she would have no opportunity to say it. Ron was moving faster now, eager to engage the enemy in battle. Kim wasn't sure but thought she heard a low snuffling nose from him as he drank in air, seeking the scent of his prey.

They crossed the vestibule and entered the sanctuary. The light which shone in through empty frames and the remaining stained glass windows illuminated the interior enough for Kim and Ron to see the sanctuary. At the east end of the sanctuary, where Drakken had told Kim to look for Shego, was the platform on which the vampire sat, reading a book. It made sense it would want to keep her close to him, but it would make finding her difficult to find if the fight stayed on the platform.

The portion of his brain where Ron still reigned seemed aware of the potential problem. He held himself back from the speed he was capable of moving as they walked forward. The Jack closed his book, wondering if hikers had somehow stumbled onto his lair, "Can I help you?" it asked coldly.

Back at Lipsky and Load, Drakken had gone to a large storage closet and drug out the boxes labeled cybernetics into the large auxiliary lab. He pushed some experiment of Tim's off to one side and began rummaging around in the boxes for parts. Wade had so radically altered some elements of his design that he wasn't sure how quickly he could assemble what he needed.

The blue man chalked some of Wade's changes to the young man saying he had built in a number of safety features, but a lot of the differences appeared to be cosmetic in nature - designed to make the Bebes look more human. Working at a feverish pace to assemble a robot Drakken didn't take the time he would have liked to examine the modifications. He had noticed the cosmetic changes when Wade made one up as Shego for the Villain of the Year banquet a year earlier. The mouth moved more naturally. The face had been given small 'muscles' which allowed a limited range of expression. It could be mistaken for human in a way his models could not have been.

The power supply would be a major problem, Drakken realized. He had built photovoltaic cells into his Bebes, along with thermocouple and kinetic generators. Bebes required a lot of energy, but his had been virtually energy self-sufficient. Wade's batteries, despite their amazing energy storage capacity would be drained quickly in the fight Drakken envisioned with a vampire. Wade had not been able to improve on the inert polymer which served as the 'skin' of the Bebes. It wouldn't react to most acids and chemicals and was largely resistant to the high heat of friction generated when the earlier models moved at super speed. The skin, however, was actually too insulating for Drakken's needs. He took a knife and hacked off the ' skin' for the left hand. Once a glove was placed on the hand no one would notice the missing polymer.

Wade, Joss, Jim and Tim huddled around the radio in lab two. Kim had alerted them before she and Ron went into the church, now they were waiting news from the conflict.

When the Jack closed his book and asked coldly, "Can I help you?" Ron pounced, he made an almost inhuman leap onto the platform, grabbing the creature and throwing it twenty feet with a violence that crumbled the plaster on the church wall when it hit. A human would have been crippled for life, if he could have survived. Kim had time to notice the force of Ron's attack, which gave her comfort. But she also noted the creature rose easily from the pile of debris with an evil smile on its face. Somehow Ron's power gave the creature a greater feeling of confidence than fear, which worried Kim. The redhead climbed the three steps to the platform, eager to find Shego so the three of them could get away as quickly as possible. Ron was wearing the polarized lenses, it had been vital for him to see the creature. They had not counted on the monster being visible, and now Kim wished she had the glasses as she looked over the search area. It was possible the Jack had killed the pale woman and disposed of the body in the time it took them to reach the ghost town. Kim preferred to think Shego was still there, but that the creature kept her from seeing her lover.

The listeners in the lab heard the sounds of a terrific fight, without really knowing what was happening. Ron was equally uncertain of what was happening. As he moved down to floor level the monster attacked him, seeking to get its hands around his throat. Ron threw the creature again, but wasn't sure if he had tossed it as far or as hard. The plaster barely cracked and the creature landed on its feet, ready to move against him again.

The creature rushed him again. There was no doubt in Ron's mind this time, he could not match the power of that first throw. Two ancient magics met in the abandoned church, and Ron suddenly feared that his power was simply more fuel to feed the vampire. He grabbed the back of an old pew and wrenched off an oak plank. Despite its age there was still strength in the wood, and Ron hoped to keep the monster at a distance long enough to maintain some level of power and allow Kim to find Shego and escape.

Ron swung the heavy plank back and forth, like a fan used to shoo flies away. But the Jack moved in and grabbed the timber. Its strength was now every bit as great as Ron's and the wood began to crack and threatened to splinter.

Kim had begun a fast but systematic sweep as soon as she got onto the platform. She began by circling out from the chair where the creature had been sitting, thinking Shego would be kept right beside him. When that failed she began travel back and forth across the platform. Near the second heavy chair in the front she stepped on something she could not see. She quickly knelt and felt a hand, still warm with life. She traced the arm back to the body and put her ear to the victim's chest and smiled as she listened to the firm, regular heartbeat. "Ron I've found her!"

The listeners in the lab rejoiced to hear the news.

"Let's get out of here," Ron grunted. "This isn't going as good as I planned."

"SHEGO! WAKE UP!" Kim screamed to no available. She shook the older woman, but nothing happened. "I can't wake her Ron!"

"Carry her! Get her out of here! We've got to get out of here!"

The mood in the lab turned grim, they had thought finding Shego meant the mission was a success.

Kim attempted to pick up Shego, but was jerked back when she tried to move her. She ran her hands over Shego's body. "She's in chains, Ron. He's got her chained to this rail."

"Laser lipstick?"

"I'll try. It's hard when you can't see."

The plank that Ron and the Jack held snapped as loudly as a rifle shot and the monster was on him once again. Ron threw the monster, but not as far or as strong. It was back on him again in seconds. It possessed no knowledge of the martial arts, but in the face of its inhuman strength Ron knew he no longer stood a chance. He threw the creature two more times, but both through his own skill and not with the power he no longer possessed. On its next rush it grabbed Ron, and threw him hard. He tasted blood in his mouth, a cut from crashing into the front of the platform. He struggled to try and get back on his feet, even as it came at him again. He had to protect Kim…

At Lipsky and Load four figures huddled around the radio, listening to the sounds of the battle.

"Ron! I've got her free… Ron?"

Those were the last words they heard from Kim over the radio. They waited in stunned silence, desperate for news and hearing only what might be bodies being dragged across the floor. They had somehow all come to believe she really could do anything.

"I'll call mom and dad," Jim said in a hollow voice.

"What about Kasy and Sheki?" Joss asked.

Tim closed his eyes, "I don't even want to think about that one. Someone better call Kim's place."


	3. Chapter 3 Drakken's Plan

Disney owns all characters on the Kim Possible series.

**Chapter 3 Drakken's Plan**

"Before we throw in the towel kin we see if the Doctor has any ideas?" Joss asked.

"That should be pretty pointless," Jim remarked.

"Yeah," Tim added, "Kim stopped some of his plans before they ever got started. I can't see him having a good idea."

"Well I'm sure as heck going to try and do anything I kin for Ron and Kim," Joss said as she headed out the door with Wade right behind her.

Jim and Tim looked at each other and shrugged, the fact they didn't trust Drakken's plans didn't mean they were admitting defeat. "Didn't the Doc say the things could be burned?"

"I do believe I heard him say that."

"Do we have any thermite left?"

"Six little canisters. I think they're still on our workbench."

"Booyah!" they exclaimed, giving each other high fives.

"Load one of 'em on a cross bow, impact fuse."

"Heat seeking guidance system is better for delivery."

"No way."

"Why not?"

"'Cause we don't know if it has a body temperature. Shego could be the warmest object in the room."

"Okay… Hey, didn't Shego have some sort of short-range flamethrower? Something from some bad guy in Chicago last summer?"

"Yeah, that's in storage around here somewhere."

"And we got to find out about those polarized lenses Drakken had. We need to see what we're going to torch."

"Nay, he only said he thought they would work. If video picks him up we don' need no steeenkin' polarized lenses."

"No bloodsucker is gonna to get our sister!"

Drakken was already deep in consultation with Wade and Joss when the twins got into the larger lab. They'd heard Kim mention Bebes, and figured a female shape which lay stretched out on the workbench was one - except that this had a black wig which matched Shego's hair and a uniform that looked like Shego's. Wade had been startled to see the Bebe, but grateful Drakken hadn't used any of the Kim wigs or outfits that had been stored for the project.

"--with me to the Villain's Guild dinner last year." He noticed the arrival of the twins. "Glad you two could finally make it," Drakken snapped. "I need to borrow a brain. Which of you two is the better fighter?"

"Borrow a brain?"

"Don't worry," the blue man assured them. "You'll get it back."

Jim and Tim looked at each other, and simultaneously pointed to Joss.

"What?" Drakken and Wade said together.

"We were, er, sort of teasing her when she got here. We're about the same age but we're seniors in high school and she's a sophomore. And she, ah…"

"I learned them some manners," Joss finished, "at the same time. I've got two older brothers and grew up on a ranch. I'm tough."

"And she fights dirty," one of the twins mumbled.

She glared at them, "Someone need me ta repeat that lesson?"

Drakken hesitated.

"What's the matter?" Joss demanded. "After all the times Kim whipped ya, ya know a girl can fight as well as a guy."

"I don't know if this is a good idea," Wade warned her. "Can I try?"

"Well, besides the fact you can't fight either I need you to try and get another Bebe or two put together in case anything goes wrong. If this fails the Jack will know we're on to him and may cut his losses and a couple throats before leaving."

"But I can--" Wade began before Joss interrupted.

"I'll do the brain swap thing. When can we start?"

"As soon as we get the apparatus set up. It's in storage locker seven, isn't it Wade?"

"Five," Wade said gloomily. He didn't want Joss involved in this and he wasn't sure the blue man's memory could be trusted.

"What can we do to help?" Jim demanded.

"We'll need you both to fly out in the second hovercraft. One of you can bring back the first -- I'm not sure if either Shego or Ron will be in any shape to fly."

"What can we do right now?"

"You can help bring out the pieces for the brain transfer machine. I think set up will pretty much be a two man job."

"That will give us some time," Tim said, "We're going to see what we can put together while you're working."

"The Bebe isn't going to need your help," Drakken muttered to himself.

Wade thought they should have taken more time setting up the brain switch apparatus. He would have preferred to quadruple check all the connections. But Drakken wanted to rescue Shego, Joss wanted to rescue Ron, and the tweebs were anxious to see their sister rescued; so Wade had to settle with double checking the assembly.

The twins worked on their own projects, Jim completed two visors which projected an image from the tiny camera located on the nose piece to a screen in front of the wearer's eyes.

Tim rummaged around the materials Drakken had taken off the workbench, he could only find four of the thermite capsules. He still liked the idea of an ignition fuse on a contact trigger, but couldn't figure out a delivery method which offered a good chance of success.

As the twins worked on their tasks a second lab table was brought over next to the table which held the Bebe and cleared of projects so that Joss would be able to lie down on it.

She sat on the lab table as Drakken checked over the switches and settings.

"I put in some pressure gauges so I can measure what you're up against. The robot should be stronger than the vampire, but Wade tells me it may have siphoned off some of Ron's power. In terms of the brain, I used a blank drive for this Bebe. There's no programming at all on it. My brain transfer machine moves brain consciousness from one individual to another. Because I need a place for the second consciousness to go it is basically a matter of switching minds. Since the robot has no consciousness it's a blank slate -- I don't need a home for its consciousness while you're in there. Your primary consciousness will be in the robot. But you will retain a low level of brain function in your own body; you'll keep breathing and may even be able to talk. And if the Bebe is destroyed full consciousness should be returned to your body."

"Will I feel what it feels?"

"I don't think it feels in the conventional sense. Not in the sense you feel anyway. You will be aware of what is happening to you, but you shouldn't feel pain. Are you ready?"

Joss took a deep breath, "I think so."

"Quiet, please!" Drakken announced. "Joss is getting a new body." Jim and Tim stopped their work and fell silent. They realized they would soon be on their way to the old mining town and began to frantically gather any tools and materials they thought they might need to take with them.

Wade helped Joss lie down on a lab table. "Belt a couple straps around her," Drakken ordered.

"Why?" his partner asked.

"She will maintain minimal contact with her human body, we don't want her rolling off the table and injuring herself."

Wade looked reluctant. "Jus' do it," Joss told him. "Not too tight. Remember, I'm not a prisoner or nothing."

"You're very brave."

His heart missed a beat when she smiled at him.

The blue man checked the settings one more time, and threw the switch. The machine glowed and hummed as Joss slowly closed her eyes. On the other table photoelectric cells opened as Joss looked out on the world through a new pair of eyes.

"Ohmygosh!" the robot exclaimed, "I'm seeing new colors… This is… It's so… Wow! I can't describe the way things look." She cautiously moved her arms and legs. "I feel a little weird. Or do I feel? I'm not sure… This is different."

"The servomotors don't work exactly the same as human muscles. Practice moving around on the hovercraft to get in touch with your new body. But can you leave now to rescue Shego and the others?"

The robot appeared slightly unsteady as it followed Jim and Tim with their loads of equipment towards the remaining hovercraft. Wade and Drakken hoped they saw growing confidence in its gait as it disappeared down the hall.

"Should I help them load?" Wade asked, "Or should I monitor Joss with you."

"Neither. Get back to work on another another Bebe like I told you. We need a backup plan. We're short a couple pieces to finish another one - you'll need to jury rig something or figure out how to make my old parts fit your version."

"I think Jim and Tim are working on backup already."

"Two more hostages, that's all we need," Drakken muttered.

There were too many lives at stake for Wade to argue.

Wade had told Tim to bring the first hovercraft back to the Lab as soon as they landed in Dross. If the plan with Joss failed they wanted to go with the next plan as quickly as possible. What Wade hadn't said was that the second attack would prove to the vampire that its location was known. The twins had figured that out for themselves. They would not be bringing the hovercraft back. If Joss failed the hostages would be dead before another rescue mission could be sent out from Middleton. Jim and Tim saw themselves as the last hope for a rescue and wished they had a better sense of what they could be facing.


	4. Chapter 4  Dead Even

Disney owns all characters on the Kim Possible series.

Thanks to A Markov for suggesting improvements.

**Chapter 4 Dead Even**

Jim set their hovercraft down beside the first on the old playground. "We're going with you," Tim told the Joss-bot.

"No, you're not. I don't want to worry about you when I face that thing. It can't effect me, but it can effect you."

"Wade," Tim barked into the radio. "We want to hear all communication between the lab and Joss."

"One of you can listen here when you bring the hovercraft back."

"Not going to happen. You know there's no time for another attempt. We'll be going in if things go wrong. Give us the frequency between the lab and the Bebe."

Jim stared at the robot that looked a bit like a cross between his sister and Shego. "That really you, Joss?"

"Yeah. Kind of weird, huh?"

"Good luck."

"Thanks."

Darkness lay over the abandoned town, the moon waned at the end of its final quarter and the next night there would be no moon at all. Joss needed no extra light to see. The visible spectrum open to the human eye represents a small fraction of the electro-magnetic spectrum. The robot's eyes took in colors no human could discern; the night appeared as bright as day to her. She was learning to trust the gyroscopic stabilizers and moved almost normally as she reached the church and cautiously entered.

The Jack prowled the church. It seemed too much of a coincidence that hikers should stumble on the church the very day it had abducted Shego. He suspected the hand of the blue coward who let his woman do the fighting in the rescue attempt, but Drakken knew them too well to send out two people so obviously unprepared. The young man had been interesting, filled with a power the monster had never tasted before, which now burned in his dead veins - giving him a strength greater than he'd ever known. If not for that power the Jack would have tasted the blood of either Ron or Kim, a snack before tomorrow's planned feast on Shego. But with the power he had tasted… The vampire planned to keep Ron a prisoner until the next lunar cycle.

Its ears pricked up at the sound of heavy footsteps entering the narthex. A large and heavy man by the way the floorboards groaned beneath him… The Jack moved silently to the middle of the old sanctuary, uncertain which of the doors would bring his new foe to him, but trusting in the dark and his ability to cloak himself from human eyes to keep him hidden. Clearly his location was known, he would examine and destroy his new foe. Then he would need a new base of operation. He would take Shego with him for tomorrow's meal. The others would die here.

A side door to the sanctuary creaked open on rusted hinges, the Jack narrowed his eyes in surprise. The sounds of approach had suggested a large man, but he saw a small female figure in the doorway. The stranger looked like a younger sister to his captive on the platform, but, curiously, he read no sense of life or power in this slender figure. The monster glanced around nervously. How had this girl been able to approach quietly and was there some larger opponent waiting for him?

She moved towards him as if she could see him, and he noticed her eyes, two points of red which glowed like coals. The young man with the vast power had such eyes when he attacked. The Jack shook his head, why did he sense no power from this human?

They approached each other cautiously; the conviction grew that she could see him despite his mental screen. "Did Drakken send you? Is the coward still hiding behind a woman's skirts?" In a lab miles away Drakken ground his teeth.

They closed, and the creature gave 'Joss' a casual back-handed slap he expected to send her flying. She returned two fast punches to the body that sent him to the floor. It sprang quickly to its feet, uncertain what it faced. Despite the fact he perceived no power in her form she hit with amazing strength.

They closed again, grappling with each other. Even contact with her skin presented no sense of life in the female. He wondered what sort of body, that held even less life than his own, had been sent against him. She was heavy also, far heavier than her slim form suggested. It realized she was the one who made the floor creak beneath her weight, but with the power he had siphoned from the blonde young man she was still a toy in his hands. She clawed, kicked, threw elbows and knees. If it were not for the Mystical Monkey Power she might have hurt the creature, but it was like a small child confronting an adult. He found a hold and heaved her off the floor, then threw her with a force that shattered three oaken pews to kindling as she smashed through them.

He stood, smiling at the wreckage. He must have broken her spine with that throw.

The Jack experienced a feeling of wonder as the woman arose, seemingly unharmed, from the broken pieces of wood. If the vampire had a sense of irony he would have realized Ron had felt the same way when he had seen the monster rise after being thrown.

"What are you?" the monster hissed in wonder.

"Death, come lookin' for ya," she growled. _"I hope."_

She grabbed him again. It had been too many years since he needed fighting skills. The woman twisted, gouged, and tried holds he'd never seen. But his strength far exceeded hers. He threw her twice more, and each time she arose as if unhurt.

He could not read her strength, but had no desire to fight her forever. If he could not overcome it in the way he overcame normal foes he would find some other way to maim or kill the woman. The creature was not yet worried, but back in the lab Drakken was. Joss was draining the batteries faster than expected. _ "How did he gain so much power?"_

A long piece of the oak plank from the earlier struggle with Ron was still on the floor. He picked it up and, swinging it was a club with all his might, slammed it into the Bebe's leg in an attempt to cripple her. It produced three surprises.

In the lab in Middleton Joss screamed in pain, bringing Wade running from the other side of the lab. "What happened?" he demanded.

"He hit my leg with a club. He bent my leg," Joss told them. A microphone on a chain around her throat broadcast the news to them.

"You were just startled," the blue man told her. "You didn't feel any real pain." She must realize he'd lied to her, but he couldn't let her quit.

"I sure as heck did," she yelled at him. "Gettin' your leg bent hurts."

"Can you still walk?" Drakken asked as he stared in disbelief at the gauges in front of him. The dials indicated the force of the blow which had hit the Bebe's leg. The reading was beyond the energy readings the machine was capable measuring. He hadn't planned on strength like that. Could the Bebe survive against this thing?

Joss was moving slower with the bent leg. A wave of guilt hit Wade for removing the speed the earlier version of the Bebes. "Go back, keep working," Drakken shouted at him. Reluctantly Wade went back to a lab table and resumed what he knew were wasted labors. He wondered if Drakken was a great enough fool to imagine there was time for them to launch another attack, or if the blue man was simply giving him some project to occupy his mind and keep him from thinking about the situation.

The Jack had his own sense to wonder to match that of Joss and Drakken. He stared as the creature that looked like a young woman continued to move despite a blow that should have crippled her. The leg was bent slightly, but not broken. He had thought Drakken had designed some new sort of armor for his pawn. But it seemed the young woman was actually made of metal. This was indeed a curious new world.

The monster hesitated, uncertain how to proceed. His normal means of attack seemed useless. She grabbed him again. She did not yet frighten him, but he puzzled over how to defeat her. He needed a new idea.

Drakken smiled grimly as he studied the dials and gauges in front of him, the vampire's strength was now within limits he could measure. "You're weakening it, Joss. It still can exert more force than the tensile strength of the Bebe, but not for long. Keep up the good work." Despite the encouragement the blue man was sweating hard,_ "Which of them is going to run out of strength first?"_

The monster also knew he was weakening. Since the metal woman held no sustenance for him he would simply slay her. Joss's superior wrestling ability somewhat diminished the advantage the monster enjoyed in strength. He gave up more of his power before he finally got her in the position he wanted, face down on the floor with his knee on her back. He grabbed her head with both hands and pulled with all his might. His muscles groaned, the female kicked and struggled, but slowly his strength proved greater than that of the metal body. With a small shower of sparks the head separated from the robot's body.

Joss's tormented scream of pain filled the lab, bringing Wade running again. "WHAT'S HAPPENING?" he demanded.

"She's getting pain feedback into her body here." Wade moved towards the form on the lab table. "Don't touch her," Drakken barked, "If you disturb the connection we risk losing her." An ugly third idea had come into Wade's mind, perhaps Drakken neither believed another rescue attempt was possible nor wanted to keep Wade from worrying, perhaps he wanted to keep Wade from realizing what was happening to Joss.

"This is killing her!" the young genius screamed. "YOU'RE killing her!" He reached toward the brain switching apparatus that connected Joss with the Bebe.

"NO!" Drakken shouted, "She won't die, no matter how much it hurts, it won't kill her. But if you sever the connection, they're all dead!"

Wade hesitated, unsure of what to do.

Her physical body was crying in pain and the voice from the radio was gone, but deprived of her metal mouth Joss spoke through the body in the lab "My head, my head…"

"You don't need your head!" the blue man shouted into the microphone. "Your brain isn't there; it's in your torso. You have sensors besides the eyes. He expended a lot of energy in that attack! Keep going after him. He's weakening. The readings say he's at a fraction of the power he had at first."

"Can you do it, Joss?" Wade whispered, not knowing if she could hear him or not.

"I got to," she gasped.

The monster panted from the exertion, but laughed as he looked at the head in his hands - then tossed it aside. Nothing could live without its head. But the monster's confidence was shattered when its enemy rose yet again and moved towards it.

Joss waved the arms of the Bebe in apparently random motions, as if needing to feel its way with her eyes gone. The other sensors in the body didn't provide vision as sharp as the 'eyes' but it was a clear enough image to follow his movements even if she could not see the creature's lips curl in a cruel smile as it moved to the right and out of the robot's direction. It hoped for an easy kill of the blind robot.

When the Jack lunged towards the 'blind' robot Joss caught him off balance with a blow that would have felled an ox. He slammed into another wall, cracking more plaster. He got up, visibly slower. Joss wasn't certain if he was weakening or thinking. There would be no way to fool it again by moving the robot's arms randomly; it had to realize she could see despite the loss of her head.

He picked up another piece of oak pew to use as a club and struck with all the speed he could muster, hitting her and moving away before she could react. The blow didn't dent the metallic body.

Drakken let out a shout of joy in the distant lab. "You've got him, Joss! You've got him! He's exhausted the power he stole from Ron. He's weak enough for you to hold him. Move in close. Grab him. Hold him with your right arm. Put your left hand against anything important: head, neck, body - it doesn't matter. Tell me when you have a hold on him."

The Jack began to circle widely around the robot. At first Joss thought it was simply trying to stay away from her or find a better angle to attack her. Then she saw him pull a knife and realized with a start he was trying to get at the hostages. He knew she was now stronger, and needed warm blood to revitalize him. She ran as fast as her bent leg allowed towards the platform. He realized she knew his plan and ran himself. He beat her to the goal.

"What's going on, Doc?" Wade demanded. He had not returned to his fool's errand, but stood by Joss, holding her hand.

"I don't know… Joss, what's happening?"

Joss remained silent, conserving her breath for the fight -- even though the Bebe did not breathe and her body in the lab did not feel the exertion.

Jim and Tim worked feverishly in the hovercraft to produce a terminal sparkler for a vampire. They had decided to use lengths of pipe with thermite capsules mounted on the end. A contact fuse would ignite the compound by means of a pressure trigger. "We'd better be careful not to brush these against anything by accident. We don't want to set them off early."

"This isn't going to work," Jim groaned.

"Why not?"

"Because it takes a couple seconds to ignite the thermite. This thing is not going to stand still and let us press the thermite up against it, and we have to move fast or the heat will just melt the capsule off the pipe."

There was a minute of hesitation. "You might be right. You go back for the flame thrower, I'll radio Wade to expect you, he'll know where the flamethrower is. You can go back and get it while I wait here."

"No way!"

"Why not?"

"'Cause if the robot doesn't work you'll go in with the thermite and try some lame plan without me."

"What makes you say that?" Tim demanded.

His brother remained silent.

"It's 'cause that's what you were thinking of doing, isn't it?"

Jim shook his head.

"Well, actually I already figured out the problem. A squirt of superglue on the end of the thermite will keep it stuck on the thing. Low-tech, but effective."

"Where we gonna get that out here?"

"The tube in my pocket."

"You already figured out the problem," Jim protested. "You were just trying to send me back!"

"No point in both of us getting hurt."

"There's nothing we haven't been able to do when we worked together."

They grinned at each other. "Sounds like we're ready then."

"Yeah, let's grab what we need and head up that way, just in case Joss can't handle it."

"I've got the sparklers, did you get our visors set to infra-red?"

"Yeah, I just hope it has some body heat. I've got the glue… We'd better take fire extinguishers too."

"Why?"

"'Just in case, good to have one along when you're working with thermite."

"Oh, and grab a radio to keep in touch with the lab."

Although the Jack had reached the prisoners first it realized there was no time to slash the throat and drink the warm blood of any of the hostages before the headless engine of destruction was on him. With a growl he turned, knife in hand, to face his attacker. He lunged forward, trying to drive the knife into the spot where a human heart would have been. The blade snapped off at the hilt and Joss made a grab for him.

"I got-- He got away," Joss told the doctor. Hearing her speak in the lab while her conscious mind controlled a body miles away was unsettling.

"Where are you?"

"We're on the platform, by the hostages."

"Is Shego safe?"

"I'm a little too busy at the moment to check."

"Sorry. Force him away from the hostages. We don't want them hurt in the fighting."

"I'm not stupid!" she snapped. "And I'm the one fightin' him."

Had the Jack turned and fled it might have escaped that night. He could move faster than the damaged robot. But anger, and the proximity to the red blood it wanted to feed on, kept him in the moldy sanctuary.

The small space on the platform limited the vampire's movements. She caught him near the front edge of the platform with a diving tackle that sent them both tumbling to the floor of the sanctuary and rolling down the center aisle. Locked in an embrace where neither seemed to have an advantage over the other they struggled, metal and muscle straining to overcome the foe.

"I've got him," Joss's voice sounded in the lab. "I'm a holdin' him tight and he can't get loose."

"Where's your left hand? Is it on him?"

"Sorta in the middle of his back."

"Good enough." Drakken screamed into the microphone, wishing there was any way to convey his message to the monster, "This is Drakken, you parasitic sack of shit! Join the rest of your brood in hell."

The blue man hit a switch and a magnesium fuse flared in the Bebe's left hand, serving to ignite the thermite containers Drakken had placed there. The vampire struggled vainly, desperate to break the robot's hold as it first felt the heat. In a few seconds the red thermite ignited and two thousand degrees of heat centigrade - more than four thousand Fahrenheit - lit up, melting the metal hand and arm up to the robot's elbow as the flame burned through the monster's body.

The Jack made no sound as the spirit which had animated the body through the decades left the long-dead flesh, driven out by the refining fire. And the mortal remains of John Turlough, once of his majesty King George's army crumbled, returning to the dust from which it came more than two centuries earlier.

In the lab Joss screamed once again as she experienced the pain of her hand and arm being consumed by heat.

The twins were still quietly arguing with each other as they trudged towards the old church when they heard a shout of joy over the radio. "She did it! The thing is destroyed."

"Fire, stop the fire," Joss gasped in the lab.

"Hell!" Drakken swore. "I may have started a fire. Grab the extinguishers and head for the church."

The twins broke into a run while Drakken was still talking. Jim had a communicator and tried to talk as they ran in the darkness, their flashlights casting bizarre shadows on the way. "Is everyone okay?"

"I hope so," Drakken responded. "The Bebe is in bad shape, you need to go find out what happened. I'm pulling Joss's consciousness out of the robot and bringing her back to the lab."

Jim waited a minute before demanding, "How is she?"

"She's here and fine," the blue man responded.

"No she's not," they heard Wade shout. He was working frantically to free her from the restraints.

"She's fine," Drakken shouted.

"Can we talk to her?" Tim requested.

"Trust me!"

The twins stared at each other. They didn't trust Drakken. They were in front of the church. There might be a fire starting inside; they needed to make sure Kim was safe and were worried now about Joss.

Tim tapped Jim on the shoulder, pointed to himself and the church. Jim nodded and handed his extinguisher to Tim who ran inside.

"You said she couldn't be hurt."

Wade took the microphone, "It appears he lied. You feel pain in your brain, not in your body. And Joss took a royal beating."

"Can she talk?"

Wade handed the mike to Joss, "I'm… I'm okay," she managed to gasp. "Jus' sort of feeling pain that isn't real. Go make sure Ron and the others are okay."

Jim headed inside. In the lab Wade told Joss, "No, the pain is real." He took her in his arms and she started sobbing hysterically.

The broken windows had let in enough snow during the winter to dampen the wood and keep it from burning well. In the heat of summer the building would have been engulfed in flames before they could get inside.

Tim was putting out the last of the flames as Jim entered. They were curious what the creature had looked like, but there was no sign of its body. The robot lay on the floor near where the small fire had been. She had rolled slightly away when she found herself on fire. One leg of the Bebe was bent slightly, the head and one arm were gone. The floor smoldered under the stump of the robot's left arm, and Jim hit it with the extinguisher to keep it from flaring up.

Now it was Drakken who was demanding news. "Are they safe? Answer me, damn it! What's going on? Please, I'm sorry I swore. Just tell me."

The wait was agony, but the twins were too interested in putting out the fire and finding their sister and the other two to waste time talking. They found the three trussed up on the platform. Shego still appeared under whatever kind of mind control she had been placed under. Both Kim and Ron seemed to be trying to rouse themselves. Ron looked like he was in terrible shape, covered in blood and groaning with pain.

"Everyone is alive. Ron is hurting. We need to get him to the hospital," Tim reported.

"We need to get the hovercraft up here, we may need to carry them on," Jim said. "I'll go move one up here - you stay with them."

"Shego is fine?" Drakken demanded.

"She's out of it, but yeah, she's alive."

Almost as an afterthought Drakken made a request, "I'd like you to bring the Bebe back. I don't like leaving technology laying around."

"No problem. One of us will fly Kim and the others back when Jim gets here with the first hovercraft. The one who's left will bring the second one up here and load the robot. Have you called the hospital? I want the emergency room ready for Ron."

"I'll call now."

"Call my Mom too; she'll want to be there."

While they waited for news from the Possible twins Wade attacked Drakken, "You knew!" he said accusingly, "You knew she was going to feel the pain! Why did you lie to her?"

"I hoped I was wrong," Drakken said defensively. "I couldn't be certain. I didn't realize it was so strong…" He paused, and confessed his real motive, "It was the only chance Shego and the others had… I was afraid if Joss knew the risk she would be afraid to do it."

"You should have told me," Joss sobbed, still clinging to Wade. "I'd do most anythin' to save Kim and Ron. You should have told me, I needed to know."

Drakken stared off into space and sighed, "Perhaps I should have told you… I couldn't have done it. I'm too much the coward…" He looked at Joss, pleadingly, "I was afraid if you knew you would back out. You were our best hope. Forgive me, please."

Joss fell silent, and Drakken turned back to the radio, "Any news?"

"Keep your shirt on. Give Jim a few minutes to get the hovercraft up here."

Five minutes later Jim re-entered the sanctuary. "It's creepy to walk around out there with all this talk about vampires. Are we really sure it's gone?"

"I'm willing to believe Joss. Let's get these three on the hovercraft. Which of us should take them to the hospital? Other job is to gather up the pieces of the Bebe and take the scrap to the lab."

"I'll take them to the hospital, it's the better job."

"Yeah, but Mom will probably be at the hospital waiting for us and I don't know what she's going to say."

Jim called the lab with the status report, "I moved the hovercraft up in front of the church. We've carried Shego on board. Kim seems to be coming out from whatever he did to her - she may be able to walk out. If she recovers enough in the next couple minutes she may be able to help us carry Ron. We're trying to be real careful with him. I'll take them to the hospital."

"Does your brother have the Bebe?"

"It's not our highest priority. He'll probably look for the head after I leave. He said he'd take it back to the lab."

_"Jim was right,"_ Tim reflected as he walked down the hill to bring the second hovercraft up after his brother left for the hospital run, _"a ghost town at night is creepy."_ Tim set the hovercraft down at Lipsky and Load a little more than a half hour later. By that time Joss had calmed down, but Wade stayed close, holding her hand to provide moral support. Drakken and Tim dragged the Bebe into the lab, and then Wade piloted the Possibles home.


	5. Chapter 5 Perchance to Dream

Disney owns all characters on the Kim Possible series.

Thanks to my reviewers, seriously.

**Epilogue: To Sleep, Perchance to Dream**

Jim was welcomed as a hero when he set the hovercraft down at the hospital. His mom worked with the emergency room personal to make certain there were no serious injuries and then taken her son home. Despite the number of his injuries they expected even Ron to be out of the hospital by that evening. Dr. Possible and her son arrived at the house slightly before Wade dropped off Tim and Joss.

While the twins were welcomed as heroes they were sent off to school, bone-tired, at daylight. Their parents reminded them that Kim always asked permission before saving the world. When they got home they found their dad grilling huge steaks for them, but they were too tired to eat and went to bed early.

Joss suffered no physical damage in the rescue, but it is the brain which 'feels' pain no matter what portion of the body is injured. She was still experiencing shock in the aftermath of what the robot body had endured and Dr. Possible insisted she spend the day in bed after Wade brought her home. Kim's mom feared her niece had suffered more than those in the hospital. Before he left Wade asked if he could take her out that evening, to make sure she was all right. She had begged off, but shyly suggested he could ask her out for Friday -- if he wasn't too busy or anything.

Wade was walking on air when he got home. His mother pounced as soon as he got in the door, "And where have you been, young man?"

"Oh, I was helping rescue Kim and Shego… Ron too."

"You could have telephoned. You're grounded for a week."

"Mom! Please! I've got a date this Friday!"

She smiled, "You've got a date?"

"Yes 'um."

She gave him a hug. "Okay, you won't have to stay home Friday. But you'll still have to serve your sentence."

He returned her hug. "Thanks, mom. I'll remember to call next time."

Drakken caught a few snatches of sleep that night, He made a nuisance of himself with hourly calls to the hospital for reports on Shego, which the hospital refused to give over the phone. When visiting hours started they forwarded the call to the patient's room.

---

Drakken felt groggy and out of sorts on the day following the rescue. He imagined that the others spent the day partying to celebrate the safe return of Shego and the others. He received no invitation, and felt hurt to have been ignored. He had played a major role in the rescue and resented being passed over. He spent the day feeling sorry for himself and reassembling the Bebe from the pieces Jim had retrieved. It kept his mind off their ingratitude and allowed him time to carefully examine Wade's variations on his designs.

Drakken had been wrong about how the others spent the day. None of the three victims of the monster's attack had any desire to celebrate.

Kim had appeared fine by the time her mother saw her, but spent the night at Middleton hospital for observation. She was released in the morning. Despite being free to leave she stayed at the hospital until almost ten in the morning moving back and forth between Shego's room and Ron's. She blamed herself for Ron's injuries. She should have listened to Drakken, she thought, and waited until she had a better plan.

Shego took longer than the others to come out from under the Jack's influence, Kim was with her as she slowly regained full consciousness. The pale woman reported a sore hand, and the doctors taped two sprained fingers. "The idiot must have dropped me or something," Shego complained. Kim decided to say nothing about the sore hand.

The police called, wanting a statement from Kim and Shego. When Shego was conscious a squad car arrived to take them downtown. As they rode to the police station they wondered how they could present a story that could be believed.

Ron received a sedative during his examination. He woke up in a hospital bed after noon. He suffered three broken fingers on his left hand, a cracked radius on his right arm, two cracked ribs, and seventeen stitches closing four gashes. He opened his eyes to find Bonnie and Zita in the two guest chairs, happy to see him awake and assuring him they would help him around the house until he was recovered. The house was the least of Ron's worries. As he looked at his splinted fingers and immobilized arm he wondered if he would be able to go to the bathroom by himself -- or if he was going to find out who his real friends were.

Late in the day the rebuilt Bebe lay on the workbench. Drakken put another dark wig on it and dressed it in another outfit like Shego's. The robots were now so lifelike that he felt it would have been indecent to leave it undressed. He tried to understand Wade's changes as he worked on the Bebe. They were slower and less efficient in terms of internal power. Given the problems with the earlier models asserting independence and trying to take over the world for themselves Drakken accepted the remodeling as a safety measure. Drakken suspected he knew the reason Wade spent so much time on the cosmetic changes, but dismissed the idea. Sixteen years old was too young to be thinking like that. The blue man was blessed with having forgotten his own adolescence.

Drakken wondered about the programming Wade had prepared for the Bebes. He scratched his head, he could not remember the young man ever saying a word on the subject. The blue man decided to leave the robot assembled. He would ask Wade for a copy of his program tomorrow, or maybe Drakken would make another stab at creating his own program. The blank drive he had installed for the rescue meant it was just an empty shell now that Joss's mind was out. There was no potential for harm until some sort of programming went into it.

It was after eleven that night when Chuck, making rounds at the lab, found an exhausted Drakken putting away tools.

Drakken was not positive how Zita had convinced Chuck to take on the title of head of maintenance. Perhaps the big man was too dumb to realize he was now chief janitor. Drakken suspected she'd used flattery to convince he was the most important individual around the place. He still regarded himself as part of security as well as head of maintenance. To demonstrate his importance Zita had made certain he was given the largest key ring in the building.

"Better go to bed, boss," the hulking ex-henchman told him.

"Yes, fine," the blue man yawned. "Can you lock the lab up for me?"

"No problem, that's what I'm here for," he replied, jingling his symbol of authority.

Drakken headed back to his quarters, remembering space station parts that needed to be completed for NASA by next Wednesday or L&L would pay a penalty which would eat up most of the profit on the contract. It didn't worry him enough to keep him awake, he fell into bed fully dressed and was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

Chuck looked around the lab before closing. Turning off what he thought should be turned off and leaving on what he thought should remain running. He had an eighty percent success rate with his guesses. He left the Bebe completely alone. After completing his circuit of the lab he exited the room and locked the door behind him before heading down to his own quarters.

Two hours later, if a witness had been present in the lab, he would have seen two dim red lights spring suddenly into existence, as if two eyelids had opened. As motion detection alarms began to sound in the security room the robot sat slowly up and swung its legs over the edge of the workbench. The metal construct searched for a word to describe the sensation it experienced. The word, it decided, was hunger.

--The End?--


End file.
